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HBO's 'Silicon Valley': Dress code for geek chic

HBO's 'Silicon Valley' a platform for geek chic - from hacker hoodies to VCs in V-necks

Kristen V. Brown
| on March 28, 2014

Photo: Isabella Vosmikova / HBO

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Kumail Nanjiani (left), Mar
tin Starr, Thomas Middle
ditch, Zach Woods and T.J. Miller are among the stars of the series “Silicon Valley.”

Kumail Nanjiani (left), Mar
tin Starr, Thomas Middle
ditch, Zach Woods and T.J. Miller are among the stars of the series “Silicon Valley.”

Photo: Isabella Vosmikova / HBO

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SILICON VALLEY: Thomas Middleditch, Josh Brener.

SILICON VALLEY: Thomas Middleditch, Josh Brener.

Photo: Jaimie Trueblood / HBO

HBO's 'Silicon Valley': Dress code for geek chic

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Even in the land of fleece and hoodies, there is a dress code of sorts - a set of unofficial uniforms that differentiate engineer from designer, product manager from salesperson, VC from CEO.

In "Silicon Valley," the eponymous HBO show premiering next Sunday, this does not go unnoticed.

Take the show's programming types: "The brogrammers, they all wear shirts that show off their muscles," said Daniel Orlandi, the show's original costume designer. "But they only concentrate on the top. They all have skinny legs."

"Silicon Valley" is a show about a group of engineers - now embracing the term "hackers" - all bunking in a hacker house while mining for startup gold. Based in part on creator Mike Judge's own time as a Silicon Valley engineer in the late '80s, the show is liberal in poking fun at techie tropes: When a group of cute girls approaches at a party, it turns out they're paid to be there; the employees at Google-like company Hooli ride a giant white company bus to get to the office.

But in Judge's vision of Silicon Valley, style is also an important language, one that conveys to viewers the show's (and the valley's) social hierarchy.

The show's main character, Richard, is the "prototype young Silicon Valley guy," Orlandi said. Richard has a big idea for an algorithm that will change the way we all search online. His Zuckerberg-esque hoodie is a ubiquitous prop (it's even written into the original script).

"I think at one point he wears it with a tie," said Orlandi. "The hoodie is like Silicon Valley's sport coat. That's not even funny; it's the truth."

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Among the show's hacker hostel crowd, worn-in attire is favored. Richard, for example, is supposed to look as if he were still wearing the clothes his mom bought for him before he dropped out of college and went west. The team shopped at thrift stores and washed clothes with sand to give them that thousand-years-old appeal.

Overall, it's all about comfort, utility and cost. There are a lot of random logo T-shirts among this crowd - "if they're giving out a free T-shirt in (Silicon Valley), there's a line," Orlandi said.

The production staff spent months surveying the local landscape for aesthetic inspiration, with hours logged at Google, Facebook, Zynga, Apple and even Dell.

"You're looking at all the details," said production designer Richard Toyon. "The hairstyles, what kind of hardware they're carrying, their shoes, backpacks."

One key observation became a plot point. When the business manager of Richard's newly minted startup wants to fit in better with the hacker crowd, he dons a Patagonia vest over his slacks and button-down.

"Patagonia was clearly very important," said Toyon. "You walk around University Avenue and look at all the people wearing Patagonia during the day. It's kind of crazy."

For Orlandi, a major source of inspiration was photos of the Glint, early Facebook investor Peter Thiel's hacker mansion atop Twin Peaks. He said the images of parties and the guys who were staying there informed his wardrobe choices.

"They all look the same," Orlandi said of the tech guys. "There's sort of a reverse snobbery about the clothes. They seem very normal."

In the end, he said, "the hacker way" is to dress like you don't care (even though you really do).

"It's that whole thing where you want to fit in and not be noticed," he said. "If you said, 'What a nice shirt,' I think some of these guys would be mortified."